Resilience and outsourcing (1)

Andrew Dismore: What work have you and the London Resilience Forum done on the risks to resilience posed by arm’s length companies set up by councils to manage certain services?

The Mayor: The LRF continues to take part in the national assurance mechanisms that review the collective assurance of the partnership against their ability to support pan London Multi-Agency responses.
It is the responsibility of individual organisations as defined within the Civil Contingencies Act to be able to maintain their statutory and critical services regardless if the provision of the service is outsourced through their business continuity arrangements.
The Local Authorities’ Panel is represented at the Local Resilience Forum. It has carried out its own assurance process to satisfy itself of the arrangements for some years of the borough’s individual resilience plans and is putting in place a more rigorous assurance process.

Stopping abuse of London Fire Brigade staff

Andrew Dismore: You supplied data showing that 76 recorded incidents of abuse of firefighters occurred in 2018. That is up from 57 in 2015. Please state what is being done to reduce this count and ensure the perpetrators face consequences. Please also provide detail on what falls into the “other” category of abuse, which made up nearly a third of total incidents.

The Mayor: It is London Fire Brigade policy to report work-related violence to the police so they can investigate and take appropriate action, including giving consideration to offences under the Assault on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018, and will work closely with the police throughout any criminal proceedings.
The “other” category is not broken down into sub-sections but when crews select this category to report violence or abuse towards firefighters they can enter free text to describe the incident. The descriptions of these incidents can broadly be broken down into threats/aggressive behaviour, objects fired or thrown (e.g. fireworks) and obstructing firefighters in the course of their duties.

Policing (1)

Peter Whittle: How many arrests did the Metropolitan Police carry out at the Brexit Betrayal counter demonstration on 9th December 2018, what were they charged with - and how many have been referred to the CPS?

The Mayor: There were three arrests at the demonstration on 9th December 2018. These are shown below:
- Assault on police/emergency worker – Charged to appear at Westminster Magistrates on 2nd January 2019
- Affray and common assault – Charged to Westminster Magistrates on 3rd January 2019
- Offensive weapon – No Further Action (insufficient evidence)

LFB’s Grenfell taskforce

Andrew Dismore: London Fire Brigade say they have thirty staff working on their response to the Grenfell Tower fire. Please provide a breakdown of the work programme of this unit since its establishment and for the next year.

The Mayor: Since its inception, the Grenfell Tower Investigation and Review team has been gathering, recording and reviewing information to understand what happened during the first seven hours of the incident, leading to the production of two factual narrative reports. In addition. it has supported the Brigade’s participation in and disclosure to the Public Inquiry while also supporting the Metropolitan Police Service’s criminal investigation.
In 2019, the team will undertake an analysis of the first seven hours of the incident to identify adverse events and the immediate and underlying causes while continuing to build the timeline and factual narratives beyond the first seven hours. The team will continue to support the Inquiry and police investigations and support the Brigade’s preparations for Phase 2 of the Inquiry which will include the production of corporate statements produced in response to Rule 9 requests.

Drones (2)

Tony Devenish: Please provide the number of a) offences b) arrests and c) charges for the illegal use of drones in London over the past five years, broken down by year.

The Mayor: Currently it would not be possible to answer this question.
Over this period of five years there are hundreds of possible crime reports relating to drones. To answer would need to read free text fields and ‘DETS’ on each crime report, as the Air Navigation Order 2016 legislation and several parts of the same legislation covers more than just drones (such as endangering an aircraft/ laser pens), in order the circumstances fit the question. Same with Arrests from NSPIS Custody, because the legislation covers more than just drones all custody reports would have to be individually read to determine the item used.

Gangs Matrix and ICO enforcement notice (1)

Sian Berry: Are you confident that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) will comply with all the terms of the enforcement notice set out by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within the six-month period given?

The Mayor: I have discussed these issues with the Commissioner and I know she is taking the ICO findings seriously. The Met have shown how seriously they have taken it by putting in place a comprehensive action plan, a task-and-finish group to deliver this work, and a Gold Group of senior officers for oversight.
The Met have already provided the first of their monthly updates to the ICO and report that they are on track to make the changes required within the six months set out by the ICO.
MOPAC have been working closely with the ICO and the Met during the Matrix review, and I am confident that the Met will comply with all the terms as required.

Gangs Matrix and ICO enforcement notice (2)

Sian Berry: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Enforcement Notice, published on 13 November 2018, stated that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) admitted to taking an "Al Capone Approach; ie where prosecution for specific gang-related offences is not possible the gang members were targeted more generally." Has the MPS provided or supported any specific diversionary tactics that help people on the Gangs Matrix get into work or education? If so, could you provide details of a) when this proactive work took place, b) what MPS team was responsible for it, c) how many people were targeted, and d) what were the successful outcomes?

The Mayor: Met officers often consider wider interventions - where proportionate and effective - to prevent further involvement in criminality, as well as dealing with the offence in front of them. Therefore it is important that the Met works with key partners to reduce the impact of gangs and signpost young people to organisations that can help.
All police officers routinely refer young people into MOPAC funded pan-London services such as London Gang Exit, Response & Rescue and Empower. The Met also directly fund Divert. Divert is a scheme which engages with young people in police custody and offers them opportunities out of offending. Between 2015-2018 of the 118 young people engaging with the scheme the re-offending rate is 7 per cent; 22 per cent less than the average rate.

Taser

Andrew Dismore: Police officers who carry a Taser are more likely to be attacked than their unarmed colleagues because of the "weapons effect", according to researchers at Cambridge University’s study of City of London officers armed with Taser who were not only 50 per cent more likely to use force in the line of duty, but they were also twice as likely to be on the receiving end of violence. What does this research suggest for extending the use of Taser and of firearms?

The Mayor: The City of London study was interesting but only considered nine assaults, six of which were on officers who were carrying Taser. It is difficult to draw any firm conclusions from this small sample size, not least since Taser-equipped officers are more likely to be deployed to violent incidents.
5700 MPS officers are trained to carry Taser. In the twelve months to October 2018, Officers drew Taser from their holsters on around 5000 occasions but only actually fired in around 8% of those cases. The mere presence of a Taser often avoids the need for officers to use further force. Taser deployments and tactics are kept under constant review - it is a proven proportionate and effective means to deal with violent offenders. The Met will use the City of London study to begin to examine their own data as they do not have a comparative study.

Gangs Matrix and ICO enforcement notice (3)

Sian Berry: Following the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Enforcement Notice, published on 13 November 2018, what action have you taken to retrieve and delete the data that was unlawfully shared with third-party organisations?

The Mayor: The Met have provided communications to all London boroughs, including Local Authorities and partner agencies, on the actions required by the ICO’s enforcement notice. Directives have been sent for any informal or outdated lists which are held to be deleted.
Information sharing agreements are being refreshed and will set out the parameters and basis for any future information sharing.

Cardiff Model (4)

Caroline Pidgeon: What specific actions are you taking to persuade hospital trusts of the importance of collecting and sharing anonymised violent data from their emergency departments?

The Mayor: The ISTV team who are responsible for implementing the Cardiff Model, are in regular contact with Emergency Departments across London.
Data returns are routinely monitored and, where any issue becomes apparent either with regard to the volume of data being shared or the quality, members of the ISTV team contact the EDs to talk through the issue. Each Trust has identified a single point of contact, to enable liaison and communication.
Training is routinely offered to all EDs to ensure that they are aware of the importance of collecting ISTV data. In the next two months, three training sessions are planned with Whittington Hospital and the Royal London. On average 10 people attend each training session.

Effective and Consistent Use of NRM

Jennette Arnold: Is the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) being used effectively and consistently to support Londoners who have suffered modern day slavery and human trafficking and are now reliant on the NRM in order to survive?

The Mayor: Over the past three years, the Met has been raising the level of awareness of modern slavery among frontline officers and partners to provide a consistent and effective response. This has meant a significant increase in the number of potential victims referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) by the Met as a result, with the number of referrals doubling between 2015 and 2017; there has already been 169 referrals during 2018 (to September).
The Met’s activity is not restricted to NRM referrals; care and support to individuals who are victims but do not wish to enter the NRM is provided in partnership with Caritas, a charity.

999 calls

Tony Devenish: The Metropolitan Police receives a very high number of hoax calls every year. What steps are you urging the Metropolitan Police to take to use education and our courts to stop this waste of taxpayers' money, which also potentially risks lives?

The Mayor: At the end of each year,the MPS run a campaign highlighting a selection of nuisance calls through the media. This is to remind the public to only call 999 in an emergency. We also remind them that the Met has alternative ways of reporting crimes including online and a twitter account for public information and reporting.
A high proportion of hoax calls are generated from those with suspected mental health issues. These are not seen as ‘hoax’ calls as per the definition. The MPS work with local services and councilsto refer these vulnerable callers to the correct service. Where callers are deemed to be making continued calls and not engaging with services offered, the only alternative is to seek a successful criminal prosecution.

fire safety non-compliance in social housing

Andrew Dismore: How many local authority homes and blocks of flats have been assessed as non-compliant with fire regulations in the last three years? Please break down the numbers by borough and by the reason for non-compliance.

The Mayor: The information requested is not readily available.Work is underway to see how this information might be provided in the future.

LFB rank structure

Andrew Dismore: What progress is being made with the new LFB crew, watch and station rank structure?

The Mayor: A project board of key stakeholders including the Fire Brigades’ Union has been set up to deliver this. The detailed implementation plan is subject to formal approval through the London Fire Commissioner governance process in March. Updates on the project will then form part of the quarterly performance reports to the London Assembly’s Fire Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee. The current expected implementation date is towards the end of 2019.

LFB recruitment targets

Andrew Dismore: The Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning committee heard from the London Fire Commissioner that London Fire Brigade is on target to be at full strength in 2019. Is this prediction still accurate?

The Mayor: London Fire Brigade’s workforce modelling demonstrates that they are on target to achieve a full establishment of staff in 2019.

Flammable cladding on office blocks

Andrew Dismore: The Government’s ban on some forms of flammable cladding on some residential buildings is welcome. But the TUC has pointed out there is no protection for offices, stadiums, music venues and other commercial premises. Will you a) support the TUC’s call for flammable cladding to be banned on commercial tall buildings as well as residential in London, and b) ensure that GLA family organisations share TUC guidance on fire safety with relevant union representatives?

The Mayor: Yes, I agree that the ban should apply to commercial buildings. In my response to the consultation on banning combustible materials, I called for the ban to apply to all new buildings regardless of height or use.
I am aware however that commercial buildings often have arrangements to facilitate evacuations in the event of afire. That is one of the reasons why it is appropriate to prioritise residential buildings where dangerous cladding on existing buildings is being remediated.
Thank you for raising the important issue of fire safety in the workplace. The London Fire Brigade has a range of information and resources available on their website: https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/the-workplace/. I will ensure a link is circulated to relevant union representatives.

Resilience and the draft EU withdrawal agreement

Andrew Dismore: What assessment have you made of the impact on London’s resilience of exiting the EU on the terms set out in the Government’s draft withdrawal text that was agreed with the EU?

The Mayor: The focus of preparations for the EU Exit has been against the no-deal scenario as this presents the Reasonable Worst Case Scenario to prepare against. Some of the most significant implications for resilience as a result of the EU Exit arise from the disruption at borders. These would be negated under the withdrawal agreement in so far as they provide additional time for the government to negotiate longer term solutions with the EU. Therefore, with limited time and resources to plan during this period of uncertainty, the focus has remained upon planning for a no-deal scenario rather than assessing the potential impact of the implications of the withdrawal agreement.

Youth workers providing support to knife crime victims

Caroline Pidgeon: How many youth workers are MOPAC funding to provide support to knife crime victims in (i) major trauma centres and (ii) A&Es for each year between 2018-2020?

The Mayor: In 2018-19 MOPAC funds 10.2 of the 22.2 FTE youth workers that support young victims of violence in the four Major Trauma Centres (MTCs). 9.2 of these are frontline roles - delivered by Redthread, St Giles Trust and Solace Women’s Aid - and one London Programme Manager role to co-ordinate and support these roles. These funded roles work with young people who are victims of violence, knife and gun crime, child sexual exploitation and domestic abuse. £405,000 funding is committed for MTCs in 2019-20.
From October 2018 MOPAC funds youth workers in two A&Es: North Middlesex and St Thomas’. Funding for this – up to £490,000 between October 2018 and September 2020 - is set out in DMPC decision PCD 432. A further five Emergency Departments – identified as sites of high demand - have been approached to establish their readiness and willingness to accept a new youth work service.

Resilience and outsourcing (2)

Andrew Dismore: What work have you and the London Resilience Forum done on the risks to resilience arising from outsourced services in the public sector?

The Mayor: The LRF continues to take part in the national assurance mechanisms that review the collective assurance of the partnership against their ability to support pan London Multi-Agency responses.
It is the responsibility of individual organisations as defined within the Civil Contingencies Act to be able to maintain their statutory and critical services regardless if the provision of the service is outsourced through their own business continuity arrangements.

Autism (6)

Andrew Boff: What is the current difference between the arrest rate for autistic and non-autistic people and what was the rate for the past five years, broken down by year?

The Mayor: Identifying whether an arrestee is autistic or not autistic is not recordable within the MPS crime reporting systems and therefore providing an answer to this request is not possible.

Fossil fuel company sponsorship of the arts

Caroline Russell: Does the GLA work with cultural partner institutions that accept sponsorship from fossil fuel companies? If so, which organisations has the GLA worked with, and on what projects, since May 2016?

The Mayor: Since May 2016, the GLA has worked with a wide range of cultural partner institutions. Sponsorship is an increasingly important source of support for these organisations and has played a key role in the development of arts in London and the UK.
The GLA has worked with organisations including the Royal Opera House on free Summer Opera screenings held on Trafalgar Square and the British Film Institute, which is a partner on two London Borough of Culture Cultural Impact Award projects. These cultural organisations list fossil fuel companies as corporate partners that provide necessary funding to deliver free public programmes. It is the right of each institution to decide on its own partnerships and Sponsorship Agreements. The GLA has not been the recipient of any benefits from sponsorship for these projects and abides by the principles set out in its own Sponsorship Policy.
You will be aware that I have strongly championed the importance of fossil fuel divestment, working with the LPFA to put in place a policy to divest its remaining assets from fossil fuels, extending this to GLA Group cash investments and calling on London boroughs to implement similar measures.

Nationals of other EU countries [7]

Andrew Dismore: How many a) operational firefighters and b) members of staff in the London Fire Brigade are nationals of other EU countries; what estimate have you made of the likely number who will return home in the event of a hard Brexit; and what are you doing to provide assistance and reassurance to them?

The Mayor: At present London Fire Brigade (LFB) staff data sets do not record nationality or allow LFB to distinguish between UK, EU (excluding UK), and other nationals. This information could only be determined by checking individual staff files. LFB has undertaken an exercise in reviewing current staff based on the information available and believes there are a small number of staff of 100 or less who are likely to be nationals of other EU countries and will be required to apply for pre-settled or settled status. LFB is now explaining to those members of staff the process they will be required to go through in attaining settled status which, as I announced in December, will include paying for the application process if the Government does not scrap the settled status application fee for EU citizens living in Britain after Brexit.

Use of Taser

Navin Shah: It is reported in a study by City of London that police officers carrying Tasers are twice as likely to be assaulted as unarmed officers? How will you ensure that the tactics are reviewed to ensure safety of officers and members of public?

The Mayor: As mentioned in Mayor's Question 2019/0348, the study only considered nine assaults, six of which were on officers who were carrying Taser, therefore it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions from such a small sample size, especially since Taser-equipped officers are more likely to be deployed to violent incidents.
The mere presence of a Taser often avoids the need for officers to use further force. Taser deployments and tactics are also kept under constant review - it is a proven proportionate and effective means to deal with violent offenders.The Met will use the City of London study as the basis on which to examine their own data as they do not have a comparative study.

Draft police budget

Andrew Dismore: Your draft budget indicates an extra £95 million for the police next year - how will this be funded; and what will this mean for officer numbers?

The Mayor: After months of warm words from the Home Secretary, the government failed to back that up with action with real money in the police funding settlement. Instead, Ministers shunted the cost of policing onto London council taxpayers, hitting the poorest hardest. The Government has already forced the Met to make £850m of cuts since 2013-14 and despite last week’s police funding settlement, there remains a huge funding gap.
Faced with little choice in order to give the Met the resources it requires, I am proposing to increase the share of council tax that goes directly to the police by the maximum amount that does not require a referendum. This is the equivalent of 46p a week – an 11 per cent increase in the policing precept.
This provides for a net additional funding of £84.8 million in 2019-20 will be invested in additional officers, staff and the crime fighting tools they need. Three hundred additional officers will be recruited, and I expect MPS officer numbers to be at 31,000 by late 2019-20. Furthermore, staff will be recruited to fill investigative and other roles, freeing up officers for front line duties. Finally, there will be a step change in the tools and techniques available front-line officers to investigate crime, including fingerprinting, rapid drug testing, cutting edge capabilities to deal with digital investigations, and advanced techniques to combat child sexual exploitation online.
My draft budget also proposes further new funding of £6.8 million in 2019-20 to tackle violence in London through the work of the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) and a further £3.5 million will be allocated for victims’ services and crime prevention activity by MOPAC. Together this amounts to £10.3 million additional funding to support ‘on the ground’ programme delivery in 2019-20 and is funded from £2.3 million in business rates and £8.0 million from the forecast 2018-19 council tax collection fund surplus.

Violence Reduction Unit (2)

Sian Berry: At the Violence Reduction Unit Partnership Reference Group meeting on 26 November 2018, the Director of Policy and Commissioning from MOPAC verbally presented partners with an update on borough knife crime action plans. The draft minutes noted: “strong progress had been made and all plans were in place.” Could you confirm whether each knife crime action plan has now been published, with online links to its location, where available?

The Mayor: MOPAC has worked closely with London Councils and the Met to develop a consistent format for Knife Crime and Serious Violence Plans across London.
The content of these plans has been for each of London’s 32 Community Safety Partnerships (CSP) to determine, based around the six strands of the Knife Crime Strategy:
Whilst MOPAC, London Councils and the MPS are actively supporting the sharing of good practice across London, something the Violence Reduction Unit will progress in future, the ownership of the plans and any details of publication remain with each of the CSPs.

999 response times

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide the average Metropolitan Police response times for 999 calls categorised as (i) I grade, (ii) S grade (iii) E grade and (iv) R grade since October 2018. Please provide a breakdown per month, and per borough.

The Mayor: Please see response times for I,S and E grade calls in the table below.
R (Referred) calls are not included in this report as they are recorded as calls to police which have been deemed not to require any form of police contact.

Brexit Stockpiling

Joanne McCartney: Has the GLA family taken any precautionary measures to stockpile goods etc in the event of a no-deal Brexit?

The Mayor: There has been no centralised advice for organisations within the GLA family to stockpile supplies and goods for the event of a no-deal Brexit. Each organisation and the departments within each organisation should have assessed its own supply chain including the availability of critical goods through a potential Brexit no-deal period. This may lead to stockpiling of certain goods and parts to maintain the delivery of services. Third party suppliers may also choose to stockpile to mitigate risk, but there is no central register of such stockpiling or advice to do so; it is an individual business decision.

Resident Safety

Florence Eshalomi: What are you doing to ensure residents who witness or live near violent gangs and violent incidents are able to feel safe in their homes and local neighbourhood?

The Mayor: I recognise the serious impact that witnessing a violent incident or knowing that a violent incident has occurred in your neighbourhood, can have on an individual and on our communities.
I have increased the numbers of Dedicated Ward Officers, so there are least two PCs and one PCSO for every ward in London. These officers are there to work for and with the communities they serve, and they hold local meetings so they can listen to local concerns and let residents know how they are responding.
My Office for Policing and Crime are commissioning an integrated victim and witness service enabled through justice devolution commitments agreed with the Ministry of Justice and developing a specialist victim and witness service to help children and young people affected by crime cope and recover.